Pioneer DV-578A-s vs. DV-588A-S (1 Viewer)

Audioholics recommends the DV-578A-S in its system guides, but I can't seem to find one through Pioneers online reatailers. But I found a DV-588A-S. Anybody know if there are performance differences or have experience with the 588A-S

Trying to find a good temporary DVD player for ~$100.

Thanks.

The 588 has added DIVX functionality. Users report better picture quality (12 bit Dacs!). The sound is also supposed to sound meatier (better low end as opposed to the 578 which sounded thinner). Also uses Mediatek chips for seamless layer change(i.e. no picture pauses)--very unique in the DVD player world!

Overall, the 588 is the better player. You can get one at Vanns.com (free shipping) or Onecall.com for about $130.

If you need HDMI, get the Panasonic s77.

Consensus have them as the best under $200 players on the market, punching waaaay above their asking price weight.

The 578A and 588A have exactly the same chipset (Mediatek 1389EE) and both have 12 bit DACs running at 108MHz.

Both have potentially invisable layer-changes.

Not sure about how the sound compares, but video-wise, these players are very similar.

Anybody know anything about the 588's hi-res bass management specifications?

I was wondering because the 573's was so strangely set-up and possibly the cause for many people's observations that dvd-audio playback sounded boomier than CD or sacd playback when b.m. was engaged.

I've ordered a 588 from OneCall and it should be here Wed. In time to pair it with my new 3805 and initial screening in my new basement hometheater!!

I was about to start a new thread on the DV-588A, but then I found this one. I was thinking of getting a universal progressive player, but for less than 150 Canadian, this seems like a steal!. Is there anything i should be worried about? Any more opinions?

Cheers.

I just picked up a 588a this weekend and can verify the layer changes are indeed seamless. I was playing around with a couple of disks that I know where the layer changes are and what is a very obvious pause on my Panasonic, is totally undetectable on the 588a.

I've had a 588A for two weeks and I'm very pleased with it's performance for both video and AdRes audio.

For $150 CAN it IS a steal.

The PQ is much better than my Toshiba SD3900 which made it an excellent choice for a non HDMI/DVI connection.

This is my first universal player. I bought it with Best Buy's 30 day return policy with modest expectations, but after 2 weeks of discovering it's capabilities, I know it's a keeper.

The set up menus are quite intuitive and I have yet to find a disc that it won't play.

As for the advanced resolution audio portion of the player, it is awesome. I've had a couple of SA-CD's that I purchased for the improved Redbook layers and a 2 DVD-A's that I got for the dts surround tracks, But now... 96/24 surround !

I find that even CD's sound better which would indicate the audio D/A's are superior my Yamaha HTR5540's.

Bass management is slightly inconvenient as I find I have to adjust the sub level between analog and digital sources. I simply marked the two levels on the sub's volume with Whiteout (I knew I use that stuff again some day ).

My speakers are all Acoustic Research performance series (which are not reference quality), but the sound that squeaks out of them from a well-authored disc is terrific.

This weekend I'm going to experiment with allowing the 588A to do the audio D/A for some movie dts tracks vs. the internal D/A's in my receiver.

I have a Toshiba 46H84C ('C' for the Canadian model eh?) and I did notice a some problem with blacks when I had the 588A set to progressive and the display set to 540p. When I switched the player to interlace and the display to 1080i, the 'blacks' issue disappeared. I used "Van Helsing" as the test disc.

I am not fond of the silver faceplate, but I have it behind smoked glass so it is hardly noticeable. (If Pioneer had a few more compatible format 'badges' on the front of the player, it would be black anyway ).

The 588A weighs nothing which sent an early "Oh, oh" off in my head, but that thought was totally unfounded. The 588A is a perfect machine for my set up.

PhilBoy,

Well put! I too wish for a black face; but the machine itself is truly a wonder, especially at its price. I would have to think that Pioneer borrowed technology from its Elite series in order to offer a player that does so much for so little. Its few idiosyncracies are easily overcome; and the results are very, very satisfying.

Does anybody know if the DV-285 uses the same chip as the 588? The specs are the same on the website.

I just returned my 588-A for a replacement, but the new one has the exact same problem:

I'm having problems playing a few of my high resolution audio discs. The SACD of David Bowie's Heathen stops playing the first track 11 seconds in, then jumps to the second track. (5.1 track)

My DVD-A of the A.I. soundtrack. On the opening track, about twenty seconds in, during the crescendo, there is a clipping-like distortion in some of the channels. (Again, this is when listening to the surround mix.)

As a test, I reconnected my old Pioneer 563-A, but the same discs played fine on it.

I haven't heard any problems with my other DVD-As and SACDs.

Has anyone else heard of any problems? Is this possibly a programming issue that might be remedied with a firmware fix, ala the 563-A? Any input would be appreciated.

Mark

From my understanding the Pioneer DV-285 is the same as the DV-588 in the video aspect. It only lacks SACD/DVD-A support. I just bought it and am using it with the Optoma 27. The picture seems to be very nice. I'm comparing it to the Panasonic S-77 (3X the cost). I really can't see that much difference to justify the cost. The Panasonic showed evidence of the dreaded macroblocking (Faroudja curse) but the Pioneer doesn't. I actually think the Pioneer seems more life-like in colour. The Pansonic was very bold and contrasty. I haven't made any adjustments video wise yet. This is just straight out of the box.
I think I'll be keeping the Pioneer and returning the Panasonic. I have another 20+ days to play around with them before my final decision.

Michael you are correct. I emailed Pioneer and both models use the same video processor. I already placed my order in for the 285. No need for SACD/DVD-A.